Market Strategies International has showed up at The Market Research Event (TMRE) in Nashville en masse! As one of FreshMR’s humble bloggers, I’ll be sharing my thoughts, notes and musings on all things TMRE, including our very own presentation with AT&T Mobility. Traditional Market Research & Big Data Integration: A Case Study in What Works and What Doesn’t is a must see. We’re on at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, October 23 in the Bayou D Meeting Room.

4:50 p.m. CST on October 22, 2013

Another good day at TMRE. Met lots of interesting people, all finding new and interesting ways to use research to solve their business problems. For me, the networking opportunities have been very good and I have enjoyed a number of presentations.

I won’t be in town tomorrow for the last day, but if you are in Nashville, head along to see my colleague Greg Mishkin and Don Hodson from AT&T discuss how Big Data, primary market research and tremendous analytics have helped AT&T solve some of their business issues.

11:40 a.m. CST on October 22, 2013

Taking advantage of some extra oxygen, courtesy of our booth neighbor and friends at Gongos.

10:28 a.m. CST on October 22, 2013

Dan Pink gave an address to TMRE this morning based on his book, To Sell Is Human.

1 in 9 people in the US are in sales, a number that is not declining. But, so many more are really in a role where they have to convince or persuade others: “Non-sales selling.” On average, 41 percent of our time is spent in this way.

Two new fundamentals:

• Like it or not, we are all in sales—some are comfortable with this and some are not
• It’s seller beware, not buyer beware. Sales are not what they used to be—buyers know as much as sellers in almost all circumstances.

Always Be Closing. In the best Glengarry Glen Ross tradition is poor selling. Dan’s alternative:

Attune (to your audience)
Buoyancy (stay positive)
Clarity (Distill information. Problem finding beats problem solving.)

A couple of tactics:

• Take the perspective of others.
• Imagine what others are thinking, not just what they are feeling.
• Mimic. Use you customers’ language.
• Ambiverts are the best sellers. Part introvert, part extrovert. Know when to speak and know when to listen.

Interesting and entertaining talk to a packed audience!

4:17 p.m. CST on October 21

Greg and Don at the Market Strategies booth. Note the bike some lucky conference attendee will win! Drop off a business card to be entered in the draw.

3:47 p.m. CST on October 21

Prepping for Wednesday’s presentation with my colleague, Greg Mishkin, and AT&T’s Don Hodson.

2:15 p.m. CST on October 21

Connecting the Intelligence Dots for Value Driven Strategy by Eric Jagher, Vice President of Strategy, Insights and Analytics for U.S. Cellular

Very interesting presentation–Eric noted the huge win it was for him to get the analytics piece added to his group. The value of having behavioral and attitudinal analysis under his direction sounds impressive. They have provided the brand with insights that have driven business decisions, such as with their recent collaboration with Walmart. Great business example of having all data analytics in one team. The implications are clear for suppliers to have Marketing and Data Sciences capabilities providing holistic insights.